Mayoral control of New York City public schools should continue, City voters say 56 - 32
percent, with support from all political and racial groups, according to a Quinnipiac University poll
released today.

But when voters are asked if the Mayor should share control of the schools with the City
Council, they agree 52 - 37 percent, with only Republicans objecting by the same 52 - 37 percent
margin, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. When asked if the
Mayor should share control of the schools with the borough presidents, voters agree 49 - 41
percent. Democrats agree 54 - 37 percent while Republicans object 51 - 41 percent and
independent voters split 44 - 46 percent.

New York City voters approve 51 - 37 percent of the way Mayor Michael Bloomberg is
handling the public schools. Approval is 55 - 32 percent among whites and 54 - 36 percent
among Hispanics. Black voters split 46 - 45 percent. Voters also say 49 - 29 percent that his
takeover of the public schools has been a success. Bloomberg gets a 52 - 23 percent thumbs up
from whites, 47 - 35 percent from blacks and 49 - 32 percent from Hispanics.

"With the current three-ring circus in Albany, it's hard to predict what will happen with
any legislation, including extending mayoral control of the schools. When we ask the question
one way, New Yorkers want their state legislators to extend Mayor Michael Bloomberg's control
of the public schools," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling
Institute.

"But when we ask if the Mayor should share control with the City Council or the borough
presidents, voters say yes to that, too. Of course the idea of sharing sounds good, but it gets to
the very heart of the argument about mayoral control," Carroll said.

Former Public Advocate Mark Green leads the Democratic primary field to return to his
old seat with 35 percent, followed by Norman Siegal with 14 percent, Brooklyn City Council
member Bill de Blasio with 10 percent and Queens City Council member Eric Gioia with 5
percent. Another 34 percent are undecided.

Queens City Council member John Liu tops the Democratic primary pack in the City
Comptroller's race with 19 percent, followed by Queens City Council member Melinda Katz with
13 percent, Brooklyn City Council member David Yassky with 10 percent and Queens City
Council member David Weprin with 5 percent. In this race, 50 percent are undecided.

"Once upon a time, campaigns for all the citywide jobs attracted attention. Now, New
Yorkers only pay attention to the mayoral race," Carroll said.

"Mark Green's long record in various public offices helps give him a lead for public
advocate. But Norman Siegal and Council member Bill de Blasio hit double digits.

"Controller is a big job, with big responsibilities. But half of New York voters don't
know enough about the candidates to pick one. Those who do know give Council member John
Liu an edge over Council members Melinda Katz, David Yassky or David Weprin."

New York City voters approve 64 - 31 percent of the job police city-wide are doing, and
approve 71 - 24 percent of the job police in their community are doing.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly gets a 63 - 22 percent approval rating.

"The friendly-fire death of Officer Omar Edwards hasn't cut into approval of the police,
except among black New Yorkers, who disapprove 58 - 35 percent of the job police are doing,"
Carroll said.

From June 9 - 14, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,396 New York City registered voters,
with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

2. (If registered Democrat) If the 2009 Democratic primary for Public Advocate
were being held today and the candidates were Mark Green, Norman Siegal, Bill de
Blasio and Eric Gioia, for whom would you vote?